This was my first job out of university, and I was very happy to have worked here. I learned a lot about what I do and do not want out of a job. One problem I encountered was that I was often put on tasks that did not fit my interest, despite working in a team focused almost entirely on interesting things.

When I was at AMD it felt like the company was afraid to take risks and go after something which has potential with a risk factor attached to it. Since I left many of the decision making people in upper management changed and now they are on a road to recovery and potential.

Exciting to work with such advanced technology, get to work with some of the most intelligent people in the industry, employees compensated more than fairly,. However, a lot of management change over the years has created uncertainty and the path to profitability is not clear currently.

It had been an exciting and productive 18+ tears at AMD/ATI organization. I was given all the opportunities to learn and grow in Characterization, Board design, Validation, program management and managing a group of 14 engineers. I was able to train Engineering students from prominent universities in the province of Ontario and create a positive dynamic environment for everyone to enjoy.I was able to work on world class products that captured the imagination of millions of people.Overall it was all worthwhile the adventure.

Pros

Unimaginable oppertunity

Cons

Being a global organization, it is difficult to get everyone onboard in certain decision making process. However, everyone understand what is at stake at the end of the day.

I am a 4th year Computer Engineering student from Ryerson University, who has a strong passion for computer/mobile/embedded system technologies.

I have a strong programming background and fluent in languages such as C, C++, Objective C, and Java, having already received an internship as a PEY engineer (2013-2014), where I primarily focused on debugging GPU memory with scripts. I gained hands on experience working in both a fast pace team and independently.

A typical day consists of:- both planned and unplanned activities/tasks/issues- global cross-functional meetings and/or presentations - overall meetings (back-to-back) during the day and in the evenings

I learned:- to manage my time and deliver multiple deliverables in a short period of time (mega-tasking) as industry is very fast paced- to manage conflict and work with a diverse set of personalities- to effectively lead professionals

Management:- overall upper management is high-level due to the nature of a global organization putting more accountability and decision making on Managers and their employees

Hardest part of the job:- the sheer amount and pace of work due to the global nature of the products and the centralization of Marketing at Headquarters

Most enjoyable part of the job:- due to the global nature of the product and the type of industry you never know what to expect on a day-to-day basis allowing for the opportunity for innovative and creative solutions

Pros

The empowerment to make worldwide decisions and see results/rewards in market

Cons

Global markets are different -what may work in one region may not work in another.

Senior Business Development Manager (Current Employee) – Markham ON – 24 November 2014

The constant layoffs have gotten the organization to the bone, with a lot of good people leaving voluntarily for greener pastures. The people are good, but the constant lack of resources makes it hard to get things done are priorities keep changing and budgets are cut. Hope the new CEO will turn things around, as at least she should be more suited to really grow the company more than the the previous one.

AMD is a culture of paranoia and security, caught up in the hype of corporate security. After giving my particulars to an investigation firm in Fort Worth, Texas, for a background check, my gmail reported that someone had tried to access it from, wait for it, you guessed it, Fort Worth, Texas. As a contractor I was assigned a cubicle on my first day but no computer. After a week or so they cobbled together a workstation from an old computer and tiny monitor, which makes technical writing and diagrams very difficult. Another thing I noticed is that they retain some of the longest employee relationships in the software business. I met a number of engineers (non-management) who had been there 15 years or longer. That is highly unusual for an industry that thrives on cross-pollination of experience by both work and work culture, and the people who seem to stay have that same sort of disposition you find in career civil servants, burned out, no creativity, no passion, and a broken spirit, like house trained animals. This is the worst company I have ever worked for in 17 years experience in software and telecommunications. I would not wish it on anyone.